Hi friends,
right now I am extremely emotional. I have just finished watching the closing ceremony of the summer Olympic held in Athens, Greece. I did not catch the event from the beginning, but caught it 20 mins late. I saw the part where they were going to honor the winners of the men's marathon. The winners were Italian, American and Brazilian. I have no affiliation with these countries, but when the winners were given the medals and the laurel wreath placed on their heads, I joined in with the immense joy they had in their lives. When the Italian was standing on the pedestal, and the Italian national anthem was playing, the tears in the winner's eyes got me emotional. I was so happy for him. I was not looking at him as an Italian, but as a human being, someone like me and you.
I was emotional throughout the ceremony. The Olympics ceremony touched me in a way it never has done so before. I think it is because it gave me a glimmer of hope that people can be peace loving, and that violence is not prevalent everywhere. To see so many nations come together on one platform, with no apparent differences and no hatred as such, I felt so much joy and happiness to see so much peace and inter-connectedness between people from all nations: men and women, whites and blacks, tall and short, people of all kinds! There was no racism, no religious strife, no hatred, no violence that seems to be plaguing the world. Gosh, why can't this kind of peace and harmony exist in this world?
The music, the songs, the people, the joy, the jubilant faces, the fireworks, the electric atmosphere captured my spirit and stole my breath away. I so much wanted to be a part of this kind of world. I wanted to be so much a part of that gathering where everyone co-exists with one another in harmony, even if its for a day. In fact, I was so deeply moved and touched, I told my dad that I am going to go and watch the closing ceremony in Beijing, China in Summer 2008! That is definitely on my "Life's To-Do List!"
I was thinking so much throughout the ceremony if God had intended for the world to be like this. I think God would! It is in fact man who brought "sin" into this world and corrupted it. I am still thankful to God that there are opportunities in this world for events like the Olympics, where as the President of the Olympic Committee said, "sports transcends all borders!" To me, the gathering at the closing ceremony is but an earlier Heaven!
Imagine my disappointment and sadness, when I changed the channel to BBC News, where I had to listen about the bomb explosion in Kabul by the Talibans and the killing of the Iraqis in Mosul by the American forces.
When will this world ever see peace?
Signing off optimistically,
Mansur
Monday, August 30, 2004
Sunday, August 29, 2004
The One with the AIDS
Hi friends,
In today's Saudi Gazette, there is an article on AIDS, which I thought is mindblowing because uptil the year 2004, the country was in denial that AIDS existed in the Kingdom. The figures are:
41% HIV +ve are in Jeddah
16% HIV +ve are in Riyadh
12% HIV +ve are in Dammam
6% HIV +ve are in Asir
There are 3 women for every man infected.
Highest rate is within the age group of 15-45 years old. (Can you imagine that? 15 years old!)
Reasons:
45 % sexual intercourse
20% blood transfusion
6% through mothers
2% through drug abuse
remainder through "unknown means" (what they dont want to write is homosexuality!)
The common factor linking all AIDS patients in Saudi Arabia is the fact that they are shunned from all workplaces as well as homes. Parents do not want AIDS infected children, employers do not want AIDS infected employees, and hospitals refuse to treat AIDS patients, as was the case of a patient who was literally thrown out of the hospital onto the streets!
One thing I am glad is that the newspaper has taken the bold step to highlight the issue of AIDS in the Kingdom. Mind you, the reporter mentioned in the article that the figures are much higher than what is written in the paper! I think only education and awareness will help the cases of the patients who are affected with the disease!
On a lighter notre, to those who have been sending in comments to me: thanks!
Take care,
Mansur
In today's Saudi Gazette, there is an article on AIDS, which I thought is mindblowing because uptil the year 2004, the country was in denial that AIDS existed in the Kingdom. The figures are:
41% HIV +ve are in Jeddah
16% HIV +ve are in Riyadh
12% HIV +ve are in Dammam
6% HIV +ve are in Asir
There are 3 women for every man infected.
Highest rate is within the age group of 15-45 years old. (Can you imagine that? 15 years old!)
Reasons:
45 % sexual intercourse
20% blood transfusion
6% through mothers
2% through drug abuse
remainder through "unknown means" (what they dont want to write is homosexuality!)
The common factor linking all AIDS patients in Saudi Arabia is the fact that they are shunned from all workplaces as well as homes. Parents do not want AIDS infected children, employers do not want AIDS infected employees, and hospitals refuse to treat AIDS patients, as was the case of a patient who was literally thrown out of the hospital onto the streets!
One thing I am glad is that the newspaper has taken the bold step to highlight the issue of AIDS in the Kingdom. Mind you, the reporter mentioned in the article that the figures are much higher than what is written in the paper! I think only education and awareness will help the cases of the patients who are affected with the disease!
On a lighter notre, to those who have been sending in comments to me: thanks!
Take care,
Mansur
The One with Abha - Part II: Al- Sooda
Today we went to Al-Sooda, which is known as the highest point in the country of Saudi Arabia! I thought this was so amazing. I will soon be standing at the highest elevation in all of Saudi. This became real apparent on our drive towards Sooda. The roads were steep, the land was becoming more and more green, and the temperature dropped significantly and our ears were getting blocked all the time.
Once we got to Sooda, the first thing that caught me was that I was running out of breath. I could not breathe normally, even though I had not don’t any physical exercise. Stepping out of the car, a short burst of pain shot through my head. Gosh, I hope this does not affect me. We all walked to the campsite, and the walk over was so beautiful. It was like walking through some dense forest, curved walkways, deep gorges, small streams of water, and cold cold weather. I was reminded of the thickness of the forest in The Blair Witch Project.
The weather was as unpredictable as it is in London. Once we were sitting on the ground, the clouds started rolling over and covered the entire area. Visibility dropped to almost zero. A few minutes later, the clouds rolled away, and the intense heat of the sun’s rays hit us. But for most of the time, it was raining, windy and cold. Even our meal turned cold before we could even put it in our mouths.
It got really bad later, when it started to rain hard, and clouds came all over. We decided to pack up and leave. The walk back to the car was a really bad one, because it was raining and there was a lack of oxygen. The drive back to the hotel was really nice, and I could have sworn I was somewhere in Europe.
In the evening, we went to the Green Hill Top, where we had our dinner. This was the highest point in Abha city, and from here there were amazing views of the city. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the cable cars ride, but that is something I plan on doing next time I go.
I will definitely go back to Abha one day, and will stay for a longer period. I almost loved it to pieces, but it did not beat my two favorite cities in the world: San Francisco, USA and Damascus, Syria!
Have a good night,
Mansur
Once we got to Sooda, the first thing that caught me was that I was running out of breath. I could not breathe normally, even though I had not don’t any physical exercise. Stepping out of the car, a short burst of pain shot through my head. Gosh, I hope this does not affect me. We all walked to the campsite, and the walk over was so beautiful. It was like walking through some dense forest, curved walkways, deep gorges, small streams of water, and cold cold weather. I was reminded of the thickness of the forest in The Blair Witch Project.
The weather was as unpredictable as it is in London. Once we were sitting on the ground, the clouds started rolling over and covered the entire area. Visibility dropped to almost zero. A few minutes later, the clouds rolled away, and the intense heat of the sun’s rays hit us. But for most of the time, it was raining, windy and cold. Even our meal turned cold before we could even put it in our mouths.
It got really bad later, when it started to rain hard, and clouds came all over. We decided to pack up and leave. The walk back to the car was a really bad one, because it was raining and there was a lack of oxygen. The drive back to the hotel was really nice, and I could have sworn I was somewhere in Europe.
In the evening, we went to the Green Hill Top, where we had our dinner. This was the highest point in Abha city, and from here there were amazing views of the city. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the cable cars ride, but that is something I plan on doing next time I go.
I will definitely go back to Abha one day, and will stay for a longer period. I almost loved it to pieces, but it did not beat my two favorite cities in the world: San Francisco, USA and Damascus, Syria!
Have a good night,
Mansur
Saturday, August 28, 2004
The One with Abha - Part I: Abha City
Abha: a hill resort about one hour down south from Jeddah. Abha, as history claims it, was originally a part of Yemen. The original inhabitants of Abha were the Bedouin people from Yemen.
I had never been to Abha in my entire life. Of the 26 years that I have lived in Saudi Arabia, Abha was never on my travel plans. I had been to other places, like Taif and Baha, but never Abha. I was not prepared for what I saw there.
For one, the temperature dropped by a significant 20 degrees. While it was 40 degrees here in Jeddah, it was below 20 degrees. At night, the temperature even dropped down further. I had only wished I had brought my sweater along with me. And to think, it was this cold in the month of August in Saudi.
I stayed at the Abha Palace Hotel < www.abhapalace.com >, which was really nice, comfortable and kind of fun to be in. I got to Abha Thursday afternoon, the 26th of August. On my way to the hotel from the airport, I could see how much more green the city was. The weather was obviously nicer, and the city itself was a small one, in comparison to a city like Jeddah. I kept on referring to Abha as a town. There were lots of mountains and hills as well.
The hotel was situated on a hill and overlooked the lake and the Abha city. Just below, in front of the hotel, was a magical musical fountain, where fountains danced to the lights and music. On the right side of the hotel were two other hills. One was decorated with neon lights that gave it a very cool effect at night. The other was called Green Hill Top, which was a restaurant right at the top of the hill. The entire hill was surrounded with green light, and as corny as it sounds, I thought it gave such a dramatic effect to the city.
The rest of the day I spent at the health club, swimming, hot tub, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, bowling and watching TV. I also went out for a drive, and got a good idea of the city.
Most of the architecture was mud brick architecture, and the houses were mostly white in color. However there were two things that made Abha stand out from a city like Jeddah. One was the use of bold plain colors to decorate the houses from the exterior. Colors mostly were red, blue, green, yellow and orange, but bold colors they were! The colors were often decorated within geometric shapes, like squares and triangles. There were no circles or any round object seen on any walls anywhere. The other thing was that the traditional architectural landmark of Abha was a building with four walls, which were splayed inwards, pretty much like a lower half a pyramid.
I have included some pictures of Abha and I don’t think mere words can do justice to a beautiful city like Abha. I could not take any pictures of any people nor of any buildings. For the whole of my trip, I had forgotten I was in Saudi Arabia and thought I was pretty much in Europe!
Yours from-having-just-returned-from-Abha,
Mansur
I had never been to Abha in my entire life. Of the 26 years that I have lived in Saudi Arabia, Abha was never on my travel plans. I had been to other places, like Taif and Baha, but never Abha. I was not prepared for what I saw there.
For one, the temperature dropped by a significant 20 degrees. While it was 40 degrees here in Jeddah, it was below 20 degrees. At night, the temperature even dropped down further. I had only wished I had brought my sweater along with me. And to think, it was this cold in the month of August in Saudi.
I stayed at the Abha Palace Hotel < www.abhapalace.com >, which was really nice, comfortable and kind of fun to be in. I got to Abha Thursday afternoon, the 26th of August. On my way to the hotel from the airport, I could see how much more green the city was. The weather was obviously nicer, and the city itself was a small one, in comparison to a city like Jeddah. I kept on referring to Abha as a town. There were lots of mountains and hills as well.
The hotel was situated on a hill and overlooked the lake and the Abha city. Just below, in front of the hotel, was a magical musical fountain, where fountains danced to the lights and music. On the right side of the hotel were two other hills. One was decorated with neon lights that gave it a very cool effect at night. The other was called Green Hill Top, which was a restaurant right at the top of the hill. The entire hill was surrounded with green light, and as corny as it sounds, I thought it gave such a dramatic effect to the city.
The rest of the day I spent at the health club, swimming, hot tub, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, bowling and watching TV. I also went out for a drive, and got a good idea of the city.
Most of the architecture was mud brick architecture, and the houses were mostly white in color. However there were two things that made Abha stand out from a city like Jeddah. One was the use of bold plain colors to decorate the houses from the exterior. Colors mostly were red, blue, green, yellow and orange, but bold colors they were! The colors were often decorated within geometric shapes, like squares and triangles. There were no circles or any round object seen on any walls anywhere. The other thing was that the traditional architectural landmark of Abha was a building with four walls, which were splayed inwards, pretty much like a lower half a pyramid.
I have included some pictures of Abha and I don’t think mere words can do justice to a beautiful city like Abha. I could not take any pictures of any people nor of any buildings. For the whole of my trip, I had forgotten I was in Saudi Arabia and thought I was pretty much in Europe!
Yours from-having-just-returned-from-Abha,
Mansur
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
The One with the Freedom
Hey All,
I am a bit concerned. I have had no comments from anyone on my posts, but then again, only two people know about my musings. Probably, with time, it might become more popular as more and more people find out about it.
I don’t know how many of you have been following news of Saudi Arabia, but there has been a recent event in Riyadh that grabbed my interest. There were three men who were very vocal about the reforms that they wanted to see in Saudi. They were calling out for a constitutional changes and the abolishment of absolute monarchy. They were calling for reforms in the country to allow for more openness to the outside world. Those three men were arrested and a trial was held for them. So much for the “freedom of thought!”
Their friends and family members converged on the steps of the courthouse on the day of the trial. The three men were inside with the lawyers and judges. The people who came in from all over Saudi Arabia wanted to get in the courthouse but were not allowed. “We thought this was a free and open trial,” chanted many people. So much for freedom and transparency. It was no surprise that Saudis wanted this trial to be a closed one. The people stormed inside the building and were met with resistance from the policemen. The people were large in numbers and demanded to see the three men. These people included the wives and children of the men arrested. Eventually, they all climbed up to the 12th floor, where they found out that the trial has been postponed.
I am mentioning this, because I think we are living in an exciting and a dangerous world now. We are in the midst of history being made. We are looking at the little freedom that Saudi Arabia has gained: Satellite channels, books, magazines, movies (uncensored!), Internet (people with satellite internet connection have no blocked sites; they have access to everything) and freedom of press. Who would have though that the Saudi press would write about child abuse, sexual abuse, drug use amongst Saudis, homelessness, mismanagement of government policies, failed implementation of Saudization, breakdown in the country’s infrastructure, wife beating, lack of jobs, unemployment, demand for women’s rights and the list goes on and on. The press publishes at one article a day to highlight all the ills of the society that we thought was the perfect model society based on Islam. Now that we are seeing the reality, albeit partial reality, we can realize that the society that the Saudis thought was perfect isn’t so perfect anymore.
I still say: the more R’s (Rules, Regulations and Restrictions) you place on your people, the more F’s it will create (Frustration, Fury and Fanaticism) which will lead to a complete breakdown of the nation—which we are seeing already.
Although I may sound negative, I think the solution is that the country needs to open up and allow for freedom.
I still don’t understand one of many things, and if someone can please answer me on this, please do so:
If the government of Saudi Arabia enjoys the freedom given to them to build mosques and Islamic schools in the West, why don’t they allow for the West to build their churches and synagogues here in Saudi Arabia?
I am still trying to find the answer for this question.
Leaving you to ponder on this thought,
Mansur
PS check out www.arabnews.com for updates on the events in Saudi Arabia. To those who have been away from Saudi for sometime, you will be surprised at the level of freedom in this paper and realities of the Saudi society! :)
I am a bit concerned. I have had no comments from anyone on my posts, but then again, only two people know about my musings. Probably, with time, it might become more popular as more and more people find out about it.
I don’t know how many of you have been following news of Saudi Arabia, but there has been a recent event in Riyadh that grabbed my interest. There were three men who were very vocal about the reforms that they wanted to see in Saudi. They were calling out for a constitutional changes and the abolishment of absolute monarchy. They were calling for reforms in the country to allow for more openness to the outside world. Those three men were arrested and a trial was held for them. So much for the “freedom of thought!”
Their friends and family members converged on the steps of the courthouse on the day of the trial. The three men were inside with the lawyers and judges. The people who came in from all over Saudi Arabia wanted to get in the courthouse but were not allowed. “We thought this was a free and open trial,” chanted many people. So much for freedom and transparency. It was no surprise that Saudis wanted this trial to be a closed one. The people stormed inside the building and were met with resistance from the policemen. The people were large in numbers and demanded to see the three men. These people included the wives and children of the men arrested. Eventually, they all climbed up to the 12th floor, where they found out that the trial has been postponed.
I am mentioning this, because I think we are living in an exciting and a dangerous world now. We are in the midst of history being made. We are looking at the little freedom that Saudi Arabia has gained: Satellite channels, books, magazines, movies (uncensored!), Internet (people with satellite internet connection have no blocked sites; they have access to everything) and freedom of press. Who would have though that the Saudi press would write about child abuse, sexual abuse, drug use amongst Saudis, homelessness, mismanagement of government policies, failed implementation of Saudization, breakdown in the country’s infrastructure, wife beating, lack of jobs, unemployment, demand for women’s rights and the list goes on and on. The press publishes at one article a day to highlight all the ills of the society that we thought was the perfect model society based on Islam. Now that we are seeing the reality, albeit partial reality, we can realize that the society that the Saudis thought was perfect isn’t so perfect anymore.
I still say: the more R’s (Rules, Regulations and Restrictions) you place on your people, the more F’s it will create (Frustration, Fury and Fanaticism) which will lead to a complete breakdown of the nation—which we are seeing already.
Although I may sound negative, I think the solution is that the country needs to open up and allow for freedom.
I still don’t understand one of many things, and if someone can please answer me on this, please do so:
If the government of Saudi Arabia enjoys the freedom given to them to build mosques and Islamic schools in the West, why don’t they allow for the West to build their churches and synagogues here in Saudi Arabia?
I am still trying to find the answer for this question.
Leaving you to ponder on this thought,
Mansur
PS check out www.arabnews.com for updates on the events in Saudi Arabia. To those who have been away from Saudi for sometime, you will be surprised at the level of freedom in this paper and realities of the Saudi society! :)
Monday, August 23, 2004
The One with the Pervert-minded People
Hey all,
I am so annoyed today. We had someone new at work today and all he could do was talk about sexual stuff. I was so annoyed because this someone is well in his 30s, married and has a kid, but still, his mentality was like that of a teenager with raging hormones. The other people at work joined in and were laughing at the jokes, which I felt were so pathetic. Ok, I understand young male teenagers who talk dirty and look at women in a degrading manner, and that is understandable, because young guys are evolving into adults, and they go through physical and psychological changes. They are curious about the world and all things forbidden seems exciting.
What I don't understand is how same guys can carry this kind of attitude into their later years, even as married men! I know of some married men, who in the presence of an all male group would crack sexual jokes and poke fun at the physicalities of a woman passing by. Gosh, how can you even make comments like that on a women when you have a wife at home? I like to tell some people when they cross the limits to imagine that women they are making fun of is their sister, or even their mother. Suddenly the whole perspective changes.
There are still some men I know who need to do a lot of maturing. In addition to making fun of women and indulging in dirty talk, they have a foul mouth. They like to swear, make fun of people, and believe it or not, gossip. Yes folks, I know of men who love to gossip. It is not a women's thing anymore. What I don't understand again is how these people could make fun of people, lie, curse, swear and say dirty things, can pray to God using the same mouth! Don't they realize that with the mouth they praise God and pray five times a day, is the very same mouth that swears and cracks dirty jokes? Folks, I have even seen some of the more religious minded men say dirty words-- it is so unbelievable. The minute they go to pray, they say religious words, and once they are over with praying, they resort to making fun of people and swearing.
Gosh, I have had enough of this. I wanted to let it out off my chest.
Singing off sweetly,
Mansur
I am so annoyed today. We had someone new at work today and all he could do was talk about sexual stuff. I was so annoyed because this someone is well in his 30s, married and has a kid, but still, his mentality was like that of a teenager with raging hormones. The other people at work joined in and were laughing at the jokes, which I felt were so pathetic. Ok, I understand young male teenagers who talk dirty and look at women in a degrading manner, and that is understandable, because young guys are evolving into adults, and they go through physical and psychological changes. They are curious about the world and all things forbidden seems exciting.
What I don't understand is how same guys can carry this kind of attitude into their later years, even as married men! I know of some married men, who in the presence of an all male group would crack sexual jokes and poke fun at the physicalities of a woman passing by. Gosh, how can you even make comments like that on a women when you have a wife at home? I like to tell some people when they cross the limits to imagine that women they are making fun of is their sister, or even their mother. Suddenly the whole perspective changes.
There are still some men I know who need to do a lot of maturing. In addition to making fun of women and indulging in dirty talk, they have a foul mouth. They like to swear, make fun of people, and believe it or not, gossip. Yes folks, I know of men who love to gossip. It is not a women's thing anymore. What I don't understand again is how these people could make fun of people, lie, curse, swear and say dirty things, can pray to God using the same mouth! Don't they realize that with the mouth they praise God and pray five times a day, is the very same mouth that swears and cracks dirty jokes? Folks, I have even seen some of the more religious minded men say dirty words-- it is so unbelievable. The minute they go to pray, they say religious words, and once they are over with praying, they resort to making fun of people and swearing.
Gosh, I have had enough of this. I wanted to let it out off my chest.
Singing off sweetly,
Mansur
Saturday, August 21, 2004
The One with the Cranes
Hi Friends,
Haven’t you ever wondered how they ever managed to extend cranes higher and higher? Did you ever figure out how they are able to increase the height of the crane? I have always thought about this for as long as I can remember.
Every time I passed a site, I would look at the crane and wonder ‘how the heck do they get that crane on to the site?’ Do they bring it all in one piece from somewhere else? Do they bring it and attaché it piece by piece? Do they raise the whole crane, and add the additional piece at the bottom? How do they raise the crane?
Well, you know what? I got the opportunity to see how cranes are actually extended.
What happens is that you have the additional crane sections, which is about 3 meters high. The crane operator lifts that section up, and brings it up to the level where it needs to be added. Now, there are four people already at the top of the crane, each standing at four corners of the crane. They stand just below where the crane operator sits. When the section arrives to that level, they hang the section onto the crane’s hook.
Below where the crane operator sits, there is a hydraulic jack system. This hydraulic pushes up the box where the crane operator is. So when that happens, there is a space between the operator and the rest of the crane below. The hanging section is slid in the empty area and fixed with thick nuts and bolts. Hello, are you still awake?
I don’t have pictures of what I have just described here, soon, I will get some.
Keep on hanging in there,
Mansur
Haven’t you ever wondered how they ever managed to extend cranes higher and higher? Did you ever figure out how they are able to increase the height of the crane? I have always thought about this for as long as I can remember.
Every time I passed a site, I would look at the crane and wonder ‘how the heck do they get that crane on to the site?’ Do they bring it all in one piece from somewhere else? Do they bring it and attaché it piece by piece? Do they raise the whole crane, and add the additional piece at the bottom? How do they raise the crane?
Well, you know what? I got the opportunity to see how cranes are actually extended.
What happens is that you have the additional crane sections, which is about 3 meters high. The crane operator lifts that section up, and brings it up to the level where it needs to be added. Now, there are four people already at the top of the crane, each standing at four corners of the crane. They stand just below where the crane operator sits. When the section arrives to that level, they hang the section onto the crane’s hook.
Below where the crane operator sits, there is a hydraulic jack system. This hydraulic pushes up the box where the crane operator is. So when that happens, there is a space between the operator and the rest of the crane below. The hanging section is slid in the empty area and fixed with thick nuts and bolts. Hello, are you still awake?
I don’t have pictures of what I have just described here, soon, I will get some.
Keep on hanging in there,
Mansur
The One with the Dead Cat
Dear Friends,
first off, I am sure you must have noticed that I am giving my blogs titles, a la Friends. I simply loved the way the Friends series were given titles beginning with: "The One With The....!" I adopted the same idea for I am pretty much sure the makers of Friends series don't have the copyright on "The One With The...!"
My dad and I were going to the hospital tonight to see a work colleague who unfortunately collapsed and ended up in a coma at the hospital. He suffered brain hemorrhage. My dad and I were talking about the patient, and various talk of death and survival were discussed. What will happen when he comes out the coma? Will he be normal again? Will he even survive?
As I was driving-- by the way, since I got my license, I am driving a lot in the Nissan Infiniti Q45 :) -- I glanced at the odometer. I was going at 60 kph. Dad said something, and I turned around to look at him because he said something shocking. The second I turned around to face him, dad screamed out loud. His scream was something I had not heard for as long as I can remember.
There was a car behind me. There was a car on my right side. There was a pavement on my left side. I had no where to go and I had no option to slow down. All I could see in front of me was this helpless white cat, all confused, stuck in the middle of the road, not knowing whether to cross the road or not.
My initial reaction was to slam on the brakes hard. That was a not a smart idea since I was at 60kph and there was traffic behind me. I could not change lanes since there was a car on my right. All I could then do was go straight, hoping the cat would stay right in the middle so I could pass over her. But the cat thought otherwise. She decided to cross the road.
Under the left side of the car, we felt two big bumps, as if we just crossed over two large speed bumps. I could sense that I must have pinned the cat down to the road with the first tyre, and with the second one, crushed her to death, skulls and bones in its entirety.
Speaking of death, I just killed a cat.
In my seven years of driving, I had always been so careful and meticulous in my driving, never even hitting anything minor. Here I am, having just killed a cat. What am I supposed to feel? Remorse? Guilty? What if that cat were some helpless little child running after some football which accidentally came onto the road?
Ultimately, I consoled myself. Had I hit the brakes, the car behind me would have hit us and in the process injure human lives. I did not want that.
I cannot imagine how guilty I felt after killing that cat. I cannot even imagine what those people who kill other people, be it in war, personal reasons, vengeance, revenge or for joy.
May that dead cat's soul rest in peace.
Signing off not so guiltily anymore,
Mansur
first off, I am sure you must have noticed that I am giving my blogs titles, a la Friends. I simply loved the way the Friends series were given titles beginning with: "The One With The....!" I adopted the same idea for I am pretty much sure the makers of Friends series don't have the copyright on "The One With The...!"
My dad and I were going to the hospital tonight to see a work colleague who unfortunately collapsed and ended up in a coma at the hospital. He suffered brain hemorrhage. My dad and I were talking about the patient, and various talk of death and survival were discussed. What will happen when he comes out the coma? Will he be normal again? Will he even survive?
As I was driving-- by the way, since I got my license, I am driving a lot in the Nissan Infiniti Q45 :) -- I glanced at the odometer. I was going at 60 kph. Dad said something, and I turned around to look at him because he said something shocking. The second I turned around to face him, dad screamed out loud. His scream was something I had not heard for as long as I can remember.
There was a car behind me. There was a car on my right side. There was a pavement on my left side. I had no where to go and I had no option to slow down. All I could see in front of me was this helpless white cat, all confused, stuck in the middle of the road, not knowing whether to cross the road or not.
My initial reaction was to slam on the brakes hard. That was a not a smart idea since I was at 60kph and there was traffic behind me. I could not change lanes since there was a car on my right. All I could then do was go straight, hoping the cat would stay right in the middle so I could pass over her. But the cat thought otherwise. She decided to cross the road.
Under the left side of the car, we felt two big bumps, as if we just crossed over two large speed bumps. I could sense that I must have pinned the cat down to the road with the first tyre, and with the second one, crushed her to death, skulls and bones in its entirety.
Speaking of death, I just killed a cat.
In my seven years of driving, I had always been so careful and meticulous in my driving, never even hitting anything minor. Here I am, having just killed a cat. What am I supposed to feel? Remorse? Guilty? What if that cat were some helpless little child running after some football which accidentally came onto the road?
Ultimately, I consoled myself. Had I hit the brakes, the car behind me would have hit us and in the process injure human lives. I did not want that.
I cannot imagine how guilty I felt after killing that cat. I cannot even imagine what those people who kill other people, be it in war, personal reasons, vengeance, revenge or for joy.
May that dead cat's soul rest in peace.
Signing off not so guiltily anymore,
Mansur
Friday, August 20, 2004
The One with the First Musing
Dear friends
Musing:
1. To think closely; to study in silence; to meditate. ``Thereon mused he.'' --Chaucer. He mused upon some dangerous plot. --Sir P. Sidney.
2. To be absent in mind; to be so occupied in study or contemplation as not to observe passing scenes or things present; to be in a brown study. --Daniel.3. To wonder. [Obs.] --Spenser. B. Jonson.
(Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)
Hello there.
This is my first attempt at starting a blog. I was so enamored by various articles in magazines and on the web, that I was tempted to start a blog myself. As I understand, a blog is like a diary- blog is short for weBLOG, right? I posted the definition of "musing" above to clarify the term to those who may not know it well. There are two parts to the definition of musing: one, to meditate and two, to be absent in mind. So if it begins to look like that I am ranting and raving with no apparent logic or sense, understand that it is probably my subconscious that is emerging from my mind onto the computer screen!
To give you a short introduction: my name is Mansur, which means "victorious" in the Arabic language. I am not sure what and where I will be victorious in, since life has brought me down to low levels many times. I still feel that my name is not a mistake, and that I will emerge victorious one day.
I am also not sure how many people will read this, but something is urging me to get out there and post out my thoughts, as a way to give my unspoken thoughts some outlet. I am deliberately keeping my identity hidden, to avoid bringing any disgrace to anyone I know.
My posts will include all kinds of thoughts and ideas, both happy and sad, weird and intelligent. I look forward to writing in more insights soon.
Take care friends,
Mansur
Musing:
1. To think closely; to study in silence; to meditate. ``Thereon mused he.'' --Chaucer. He mused upon some dangerous plot. --Sir P. Sidney.
2. To be absent in mind; to be so occupied in study or contemplation as not to observe passing scenes or things present; to be in a brown study. --Daniel.3. To wonder. [Obs.] --Spenser. B. Jonson.
(Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)
Hello there.
This is my first attempt at starting a blog. I was so enamored by various articles in magazines and on the web, that I was tempted to start a blog myself. As I understand, a blog is like a diary- blog is short for weBLOG, right? I posted the definition of "musing" above to clarify the term to those who may not know it well. There are two parts to the definition of musing: one, to meditate and two, to be absent in mind. So if it begins to look like that I am ranting and raving with no apparent logic or sense, understand that it is probably my subconscious that is emerging from my mind onto the computer screen!
To give you a short introduction: my name is Mansur, which means "victorious" in the Arabic language. I am not sure what and where I will be victorious in, since life has brought me down to low levels many times. I still feel that my name is not a mistake, and that I will emerge victorious one day.
I am also not sure how many people will read this, but something is urging me to get out there and post out my thoughts, as a way to give my unspoken thoughts some outlet. I am deliberately keeping my identity hidden, to avoid bringing any disgrace to anyone I know.
My posts will include all kinds of thoughts and ideas, both happy and sad, weird and intelligent. I look forward to writing in more insights soon.
Take care friends,
Mansur
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